Latest news with #D.C.
Wall Street Journal
10 hours ago
- General
- Wall Street Journal
The Senate Nominations Showdown
A newsy analysis of the workings of D.C. (and beyond), providing the inside track on both the overhyped and overlooked events of the week. Subscribe here, and read this week's edition below:
Yahoo
12 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
GPT-5 Launch Might Be Imminent: More Leaks Detail Some Of The New AI's Main Features
Reports last week said ChatGPT's big GPT-5 upgrade would launch in August, but didn't reveal a release date. The best estimate was "early August," though OpenAI can always postpone AI model releases. The open-source ChatGPT release, which has been delayed more than once already, should also launch before GPT-5 rolls out, according to last week's reports. What's certain is that GPT-5 is coming. Sam Altman said long ago that the next-gen ChatGPT model would be available this year, teasing a new unified AI experience, in which the chatbot would be able to automatically choose the right tools depending on a user's prompt. Last week, Altman was on tour in Washington, D.C., and he further teased what he'd seen while testing GPT-5, suggesting an even more powerful AI is about to be available to users. The executive also revealed he aims to give everyone GPT-5. Leaks suggested that premium ChatGPT users would get better features and more access than ChatGPT Free subscribers, though. While OpenAI isn't ready to tease the GPT-5 launch like it did with ChatGPT Agent ahead of the AI agent's launch, we're seeing more signs that GPT-5's arrival is imminent. Some testers are already using the new models, while others are sharing leaks about it. GPT-5 To Launch Next Week? Menlo Ventures AI investor Deedy Das posted the following tweet on X, claiming OpenAI will launch GPT-5 next week. According to information from an anonymous source that provided "reasonable proof," GPT-5 will support context windows of up to 1 million tokens (input) and up to 100,000 tokens (output). GPT-5 will also support the Model Context Protocol (MCP) standard, which lets AI models connect to external data sources and "parallel tool calls." Das also said GPT-5 will support dynamic (short and long) reasoning, Code Interpreter, and other tools. The leaker also mentioned the codenames OpenAI is supposedly using for GPT-5 models: "o3-alpha > nectarine (GPT-5) > lobster (mini) > starfish (nano)." Put differently, Nectarine, Lobster, and Starfish are the three GPT-5 models that will supposedly be available to users. These codenames also appeared in a report from The Neuron earlier this week, which speculated that GPT-5 is being tested. "At least six anonymous models—Zenith, Summit, Lobster, Nectarine, Starfish, and o3-alpha—that are supposedly outperforming nearly every other known model," have been spotted on LMArena. This report indicates Zenith might be the top-tier version of GPT-5, not Nectarine. Separately, X user chatgpt21 posted screenshots supposedly coming from the head of design at Cursor, who has been testing GPT-5 Alpha. The images in the following tweet show an interaction with an AI model in a Mac app, probably Cursor. The model name is blurred but in a way that's still legible. It reads gpt-5-alpha, likely a test AI model that some people have been able to use for a while. Finally, some testers have noticed a GPT-5-powered Smart Mode that Microsoft is preparing for Copilot. GPT-5 Teasers As a longtime ChatGPT user, I'm curious to see what GPT-5 can do to improve my daily interactions with the chatbot. I go to ChatGPT with all sorts of questions throughout the day, with o3 being the main model I use. I like its ability to take its time to provide answers, though o3 makes mistakes too. I'm also using the AI to craft training sessions for my marathon races and deal with all my travel needs. I started giving ChatGPT Agent complex tasks to see what it can do, though I'm only testing the AI agent for now. What I'm getting at is that I'm already well aware of what the AI can do for me. Hearing Sam Altman's GPT-5 teasers last week only made me more interested in it. "This morning, I was testing our new model, and I got a question. I got emailed a question that I didn't quite understand. And I put it in the model, this is GPT-5, and it answered it perfectly," Altman said during a podcast interview. "And I really kind of sat back in my chair, and I was just like, 'Oh man, here it is moment' [...] I felt like useless relative to the AI in this thing that I felt like I should have been able to do, and I couldn't. It was really hard. But the AI just did it like that. It was a weird feeling." I'm not sure if GPT-5 will impress me similarly, considering I might not use the AI for the same complex purposes. But I do want a fast, universal AI model that knows what tools to select, when to reason, and when to provide a Deep Research report without me providing specific instructions. Read the original article on BGR.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
DC Council passes budget; protestors removed over tipped wage compromise
WASHINGTON () — The D.C. Council approved a nearly $22 billion budget for Fiscal Year 2026 Monday night. About an hour before the final vote, 15 to 20 protesters were kicked out of the D.C. Council Chambers and the Wilson Building for protesting changes to Initiative 82. Chairman Phil Mendelson had them removed because they were being disruptive. 'I don't understand the disruptions because it's as if people think that somehow they will get more support if some disruptive and they scream and swear at anybody,' said Mendelson. 'I just don't understand that…The disruption makes it hard on everyone, the public who's here in the chamber and the public who's watching. We have to stop and wait.' Montgomery County teachers file class action grievance over payroll issues Voters approved Initiative 82 in November 2022 to phase out the tipped minimum wage and align it with the standard minimum wage. Councilmembers Christina Henderson and Charles Allen put forward an amendment they say is a compromise between what some workers want and what some restaurant owners want. 'It's a recognition that another steep increase in labor costs at this moment might change D.C.'s wonderful and overwhelmingly local restaurant industry,' Allen said. 'While it slows implementation down, it continues to close the gap between the tip minimum wage and the full minimum wage. After passing with a vote of 7-5, the tipped wage will increase every two years until it reaches 75% of the full minimum wage by 2034. The current tipped wage of $10 is frozen through the middle of next year. Starting on Jan. 1, 2026, employers have to give detailed breakdowns by source on pay stubs, including a list of bonuses, commissions on sales, service charges, or other sources. Congressional candidates in Virginia's 11th district debate issues ahead of special election Councilmembers Lewis George, Nadeau, Parker and White voted no on the amendment. 'The restaurant industry is an incredibly volatile industry. That has been true before and after I-82. It is a high-risk, high- risk venture, not for the faint of heart,' said Ward 4 Councilmember Janeese Lewis George. 'We need to prioritize helping restaurants adapt rather than continuing to make sacrifices at the expense of the workers who keep this economy strong. It is not within our ability to remove all risk from the restaurant industry.' Initiative 83, which was passed overwhelmingly by voters in November 2024, will introduce ranked-choice voting. However, it is only funded for the upcoming general election, not the primary, after Councilmember Brooke Pinto's amendment failed. Other issues included the Council having to cut $30 million on Monday because D.C.'s chief financial officer said it needed to be set aside for any overspending. Funds are being cut from the pay equity fund, affordable housing trust fund and more. The Council did prioritize the programs that are being cut, setting up plans on how to re-fund them if the money becomes available. Montgomery County council member proposes new bike safety legislation 'We used to lead the nation in terms of access to health care and, that's being rolled back. We're seeing that both on the local level and the national level,' Mendelson said. 'There were a lot of cuts the mayor proposed to environmental programs, I mean, I think it's fair to say devastating the environmental programs and those we were not able to restore, most of them.' Mendelson is pleased that school funding is stable, with more money for education, as well as good funding for public safety. 'There's definitely stuff to be happy about, but there's also stuff that is very worrisome; some structural issues in the funding over the course of the financial plan,' Mendelson said. 'There are a lot of social service programs that were reduced. And how that's going to play out, don't know.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Solve the daily Crossword
Washington Post
2 days ago
- Climate
- Washington Post
July 29 morning weather update
The inside scoop on D.C. weather from the Capital Weather Gang. Get your D.C. area weather update in under a minute on weekday mornings.
Washington Post
2 days ago
- Climate
- Washington Post
Monday was hot, but gave faint hint of July's ending
With Monday it seemed that Washington was nearing a significant weather transitions, the great meteorological shift from July, which is the year's hottest month here, to August, which is also hot, but not July-hot. On Monday, records showed a tiny, but significant movement toward, if not cooler days, then toward days that are less hot. For the first time in weeks, the 'normal,' or average, daily high temperature in D.C. dropped.
